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Kamandar i Pars (Persian Archers)
Persian archers are famed for the impact of the arrows from their sturdy composite bows. While they carry an axe, it would be foolish to expect much from them in a melee. Description Hailing from the farms and hamlets all over the Iranian plateau, the men in this unit carry the signature weapon of the Persian warrior, the composite bow. Although they have no formal training, and has most likely been levied by force from their homes to serve in the forces of a king whose existence is otherwise as good as unknown among lesser folk, they can be just as deadly as many more professional soldiers. It was said about the army of Xerxes as it crossed into Hellas, that when its archers all fired their bows at once, the hail of arrows would cover the sun and darken the sky. Although rarely found in the same concentration as during the heyday of the Achaemenid Empire, the myth of the Persian archer still lingers, and a coordinated barrage of arrows from these is still as frightening, and deadly, as it was two hundred years ago. They are dressed in their everyday clothes, many with geometric patterns in the Persian fashion, and with leather and rawhide vests and boots. On their heads, they either wear kyrbasias, or just simple thimble-shaped caps with flaps that can be tied beneath the chin. Their primary armament is their composite bows, made of wood, bone and sinew. their gorytii, in which they store their bows and ammunition, are made of leather and carried in their belts. Although the main purpose of these warriors is to shower the enemy with arrows and then fall back, they are still equipped for engaging the enemy in melee if need be. For this purpose, they carry axes and taka shields, which they wear flung across their shoulders when firing their bows. Historically, the main component of settled Iranian armies was made up of levied peasants and villagers from the lands belonging to Azads and noblemen. Unlike the regular retinues, these men had no bond of fealty to their overlord, and were hence reluctant soldiers. Of these levies, recruited to flesh out the forces of the Shahanshah and his retainers, archers would have made up a considerable share. According to Herodotos, the Persians were taught three things, and three things only, from a very young age, and this was to ride horses, always tell the truth - and how to fire a bow. Regardless of how much substance there is actually behind that claim, it can be no doubt that archery was a speciality of the Persians, as can easily be deduced by the Persian records. Many Achaemenid Persian coins show just an archer, and in the surviving Persian depictions of warriors we have, many are seen carrying bows and quivers. Indeed, archery was a well-known feature of Persian warfare even among the peoples on the fringes of the empire. For instance, ostraca found in Athens from the ostracism of some Athenian politician accused of being a Persian collaborator makes this clear by the ostraca being inscribed with the name of the accused, along with a depiction of him dressed in the Persian manner, and carrying a bow a weapon often considered cowardly among the Greeks. Category:Units Category:Units available only in EB2 Category:Arche Seleukeia Category:Baktria Category:Hayasdan Category:Pahlava